Keynote speaker Ruda Landman is one of the most experienced chairmen/facilitators in the country, at ease with strong panel members, energetic and lively without taking over. She keeps the discussion focused, restrains people who may try to dominate, and makes it possible for every participant to perform at his/her best. In her hands your panel discussion will be what you want it to be: interesting, informative, real value added to your programme. As MC Ruda Landman is charming and professional. She is willing to work with the client beforehand to understand the content and spirit of the occasion, becoming an integral part of the programme, weaving different presentations together and keeping the audience engaged.

Ruda is best known as co-anchor of the actuality magazine programme Carte Blanche on M-Net, a role she played for 19 years until July 2007. Since then she has worked on a number of projects, including the 26-part documentary series Grensoorlog, a series of children’s stories on cd for use in hospitals, and two 13-part series on mental health called ‘n Lewe met... for kykNET. Currently she serves as presenter of Centrum Guardian on SABC 3, highlighting the work of our emergency services.

Having grown up in the Northern Cape, she read languages at the University of Stellenbosch and started her career as a journalist at Die Burger. That was followed by stints at Sarie magazine and the SABC, where she moved from radio into television, paving the way for her work at Carte Blanche. In 2003 she published a book on her experiences as a television journalist, titled Off Camera.

She has been married to economic-political analyst JP Landman for 34 years. They have one son.

Keynote speaker Ruda Landman is one of the most experienced chairmen/facilitators in the country, at ease with strong panel members, energetic and lively without taking over. She keeps the discussion focused, restrains people who may try to dominate, and makes it possible for every participant to perform at his/her best. In her hands your panel discussion will be what you want it to be: interesting, informative, real value added to your programme. As MC Ruda Landman is charming and professional.

Ruda Landman’s career as a journalist in South Africa spans some of the most difficult and fascinating times in our history. In this talk she tells the story of her own growth from a small-town Afrikaans girl growing up in the 60s with all the privileges and prejudices of her environment, to getting to know and appreciate all the people of the country through personal encounters, both positive and negative, in the course of her work. Two lessons stand out for her: get out of the box of your own personal circumstances to really listen to others; and don’t get caught up in today’s detail, but look at the big picture and the long term.
It’s a frank, very personal walk down memory lane through moments of hard confrontation with sometimes unwelcome insights, shot through with humour as she recounts the stories of, among others, con artists and sex workers finding a place in the sun of the new South Africa.

PRESENTATIONS by Ruda Landman

Lessons from 30 years of reporting in SA – summary

Ruda Landman’s career as a journalist in South Africa spans some of the most